Horemheb, upon his accession to the throne in about 1320 BCE, had initiated a comprehensive series of internal reforms meant to curb the gross abuses of power and privileges that had begun under Akhenaten's reign, due to the overcentralization of state power and privileges in the hands of a few officials.

He "appointed judges and regional tribunes…reintroduced local religious authorities" and divided legal power "between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt" between "the Viziers of Thebes and Memphis respectively.”

These deeds are recorded in a stela which the king had erected at the foot of his Tenth Pylon at Karnak.

Sometimes called The Great Edict of Horemheb, it is a copy of the actual text of the king's decree to reestablish order to the Two Lands and curb abuses of state authority.

The stela's creation and prominent location emphasizes the great importance which Horemheb placed upon domestic reform.

Horemheb also reformed the Army and reorganized the Deir el-Medinah workforce in his Seventh Year while Horemheb's official, Maya, renewed the tomb of Thutmose IV, which had been disturbed by tomb robbers in his Eighth Year.